Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern report solid profits as they make their case for their merger

OMAHA, Neb. — Both Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern delivered solid profits Thursday as the railroads continued to make the case for their proposed $85 billion merger.

Union Pacific wants to buy Norfolk Southern in a deal that would create the first transcontinental railroad . That deal faces a lengthy review by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board before the companies would be able to merger Union Pacific’s vast network in the West with Norfolk Southern’s operation in the Eastern United States.